[Math] Definition of non-injective function

functionslogicproof-verification

  • Let $f\in F^{E}$ so to show that $f$ is non injective it's suffice to find distinct elements in $E$ with equal images.
    $$f \text{ is non-injective } \iff \exists (x,y)\in E^{2} \text{ s.t } x\neq y \text{ with } f(x)=f(y) $$

  • I wonder where did come that definition of non-injective

My proof:

note that
$$f \in F^{E} \text{ is an injection } \iff \biggl( \forall x,y \in E \text{ s.t } \underbrace{f(x)=f(y)}_{A} \implies \underbrace{x=y}_{B} \biggr) $$

Let $P$ the statement : $ \biggl( \forall x,y \in E \text{ s.t } f(x)=f(y) \implies x=y \biggr) $ then
$f$ is non-injective means that $\neg P$ is true for that we must prove that $P$ is false which means to suppose that $A$ is true and show that $B$ is flase ( $\neg B$ is true )

  • am i right

Best Answer

Yes, your proof is correct. It follows from the formal definition of injectivity ($P$) that if there exists even one counter-example, the function is no longer injective.

$\exists \; x, y \in E, \; x \neq y: f(x) = f(y)$

equals

$\neg \forall \; x, y \in E: f(x) = f(y) \Rightarrow x = y$

Which is the negation of $P$.